Anyone and everyone can trip on a power cord. The dangers and consequences of tripping on a power cord are present to children, the elderly, and everyone in between. Tripping occurs in the home, at school, in daycare facilities, in hospitals, in nursing homes, in factories, in restaurants, and other places. Consequences for an individual of tripping on a power cord can be severe, including breaking a wrist or fracturing a hip. Damage can also occur to the receptacle, plugged in devices and the plug itself. With increasing expenditures on expensive gadgets, tripping on a power cord can send such expensive gadgets crashing to the ground. Similarly, machinery in a factory may be easily damaged if a person trips on a connected power cord.
A common source of failure for electronic devices is the connection between a power cord and a plug. It is common for people to disconnect a plug from a receptacle by pulling on the power cord instead of the plug. Repeated strain on a power cord can damage the connection between the cord and the plug.
Most plugs are designed to release from a receptacle when a certain amount of force is applied in an axial or near-axial direction. However, the more horizontal the force applied to a plug, the more difficult it may be to remove the plug and to remove it without damaging the receptacle, plug, or the power cord.
In addition to the dangers of tripping on power cords, electrical sockets pose an electrocution risk to children and others who improperly use an electric socket. Children, for example, all too often will take paper clips, scissors, and other objects and insert them into electric sockets resulting in serious if not fatal electrocution to the child.
To address these problems, devices have been previously designed that allow for the quick release of an electrical plug from an electric socket. Certain types of appliances, such as deep fryers, have been designed with a quick release mechanism on the appliance. Devices have also been designed that involve inserting plastic plugs into receptacles such that children cannot insert objects into the sockets.